Packaging assembly for packaging an electric product and buffer structure thereof

ABSTRACT

A packaging assembly for packaging an electric product is provided. The packaging assembly has a case body and a buffer structure. The buffer structure has two buffer elements. Each of the buffer elements has a body portion and two bent portions. When the body portion receives a first side of the electric product, the bent portions are bended to receive a second side of the electric product, and thus the body portion and the bent portions cover four corners of the electric product.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 104207005 filed on May 7, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a packaging assembly and a buffer structure thereof and more particularly, the present invention relates to a packaging assembly for packaging an electronic product and a buffer structure thereof.

2. Descriptions of the Related Art

In the prior art, when electronic products such as mobile phones, digital cameras, tablet computers, notebook computers, flat panel displays, flat panel TVs or set top boxes are to be packaged to avoid damage to the body thereof through an effective protection mechanism during the transport process, usually buffer articles are provided inside the packaging boxes and between the bodies of the electronic products so as to absorb the potential accidental impact to the packaging boxes from the external environment.

As people's environmental protection awareness improves, the aforesaid buffer articles have gradually transition from bubble bags, air bags, foams, or styrofoams in the early days to buffer articles made of paper that are capable of being recycled.

However, most of the buffer articles made of paper have the disadvantage of occupying a large space or incapable of being made lightweight or the like due to the inherent physical properties of their materials.

On the other hand, conventional packaging materials such as packaging boxes, accessory boxes and buffer articles are delivered to clients all in the form of individual packages, and then the clients place the accessory boxes and the buffer articles into the packaging boxes on their own and package the electronic products on a production line. Thus, before the packaging of the electronic products, these individually packaged packaging boxes, accessory boxes and buffer articles will also occupy a considerable storage space.

Accordingly, an urgent need exists in the art to provide a packaging assembly and a buffer structure thereof which can save the space necessary for packaging, be made lightweight, and meanwhile save the storage space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide a packaging assembly and a buffer structure thereof, which can be used to cover electronic products such as mobile phones, digital cameras, tablet computers, notebook computers, flat panel displays, flat panel TVs or set top boxes, maximize the protection/buffering effect, and meanwhile save the space necessary for packaging and be made lightweight.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a packaging assembly, of which the buffer structure may be placed into a case body in advance before being delivered to the client so as to save the storage space for storing the packaging assembly and the buffer structure before the packaging.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, a buffer structure of the present invention comprises: two buffer elements, each of which has a body portion and two bent portions extending outwards from two first ends of the body portion respectively; wherein when two opposite first sides of an electric product are received by the body portions of the buffer elements respectively, the two bent portions of each of the buffer elements are bended to receive two opposite second sides of the electric product so that the body portions and the bent portions cooperate to cover corners of the electric product.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, the body portion comprised in the buffer structure of the present invention comprises two clamping ends and a receiving region disposed between the two clamping ends, each of the clamping ends has a side surface substantially in the form of a trapezoid that is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, and at least one protrusion is disposed at a bottom portion of the receiving region.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, each of the bent portions comprised in the buffer structure of the present invention comprises two catching ends and a covering region disposed between the two catching ends, each of the catching ends has a side surface substantially in the form of a triangle that is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, and at least one protrusion is disposed at a bottom portion of the covering region.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, the body portion of each of the buffer elements comprised in the buffer structure of the present invention has two position-limiting regions disposed at the two first ends respectively, and the two bent portions of each of the buffer elements each have a snap-fit portion respectively so that when the two bent portions are bended towards the body portion, the snap-fit portions of the bent portions are snap-fitted into the position-limiting regions of the body portion.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, the body portion of the buffer elements comprised in the buffer structure of the present invention has two snap-fit portions disposed at the two first ends respectively, and the two bent portions of each of the buffer elements each have a position-limiting region so that when the two bent portions are bended towards the body portion, the snap-fit portions of the body portion are snap-fitted into the position-limiting regions of the bent portions.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, each of the snap-fit portions of the buffer elements comprised in the buffer structure of the present invention is a multilayered sheet structure.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, the body portion and the two bent portions of each of the buffer elements comprised in the buffer structure of the present invention are formed integrally.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, one of the two buffer elements comprised in the buffer structure of the present invention further has two bent pieces extending from two second ends of the body portions respectively, and the two bent pieces are adapted to be bended in a direction away from the body portion.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, in the buffer element having the two bent pieces that is comprised in the buffer structure of the present invention, the body portion, the two bent portions and the two bent pieces thereof are formed integrally.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, each of the buffer elements comprised in the buffer structure of the present invention is a molded thin buffer material.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, a packaging assembly of the present invention comprises a case body and a buffer structure. The buffer structure is adapted to cover two first sides, two second sides and four corners of an electric product and then placed into the case body.

After the buffer structure and the electric product are placed into the case body, a side space is defined to store an accessory kit of the electric product.

To achieve the aforesaid objectives, one of the two buffer elements of the buffer structure comprised in the packaging assembly of the present invention has two bent pieces extending from two second ends of the body portion of the buffer element respectively, and the two bent pieces are adapted to be bended in a direction away from the body portion so that, when the buffer structure is received in the case body, the side space is defined by the two bent pieces.

The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for the subject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanying the appended drawings for people skilled in this field to well appreciate the features of the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a packaging assembly of the present invention that packages an electronic product (a notebook computer);

FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded view of a buffer structure of the present invention that is assembled with the electronic product (the notebook computer);

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of FIG. 1 with a case body and the electronic product (the notebook computer) being omitted;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of a buffer element comprised in the buffer structure of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the first embodiment of the buffer element of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the first embodiment of the buffer element of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the first embodiment of the buffer element of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the buffer element comprised in the buffer structure of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a front view of the second embodiment of the buffer element of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a top view of the second embodiment of the buffer element of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 11 is a side view of the second embodiment of the buffer element of FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A packaging assembly and a buffer structure thereof of the present invention are used to cover electronic products such as mobile phones, digital cameras, tablet computers, notebook computers, panel displays, panel TVs or set top boxes for purpose of protecting the electronic products and providing an effective buffer effect against potential damage to the electronic products due to the impact from the external environment during the transport process.

In the following descriptions, the technical features of the packaging assembly and the buffer structure thereof of the present invention will be described by taking a notebook computer as an example of the electronic product; however, the present invention is not limited thereto.

That is, the size or the relative scale of the packaging assembly and the buffer structure thereof of the present invention can be varied depending on the volume of different electronic products to keep the effect of completely covering the electronic product and providing effective buffering.

First referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 together, a packaging assembly 100 of the present invention comprises a case body 200 and a buffer structure 300. Therefore, when the electronic product is a notebook computer 400, the buffer structure 300 is adapted to cover two first sides 410, two second sides 420 and four corners 430 of the notebook computer 400 and then placed into the case body 200. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, after the buffer structure 300 and the notebook computer 400 are placed into the case body 200, a side space 210 is defined to store an accessory kit 500 of the notebook computer.

Hereinafter, the contents of the buffer structure 300 of the present invention will first be described.

Please refer to FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 together. As shown in the figures, the buffer structure 300 of the present invention comprises two buffer elements 310, and as shown in FIG. 6, each of the buffer elements 310 has a body portion 320 and two bent portions 330 extending outwards from two first ends 320 a of the body portion 320 respectively.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, when two opposite first sides 410 of the notebook computer 400 are received by the body portions 320 of the buffer elements 310 respectively, the two bent portions 330 of each of the buffer elements 310 are bended to receive two opposite second sides 420 of the notebook computer 400 so that the body portions 320 and the bent portions 330 cooperate to cover the four corners 430 of the notebook computer.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6, the body portion 320 of the buffer element 310 comprises two clamping ends 321 and a receiving region 323 disposed between the two clamping ends 321. Thus, covering the first sides 410 of the notebook computer 400 by the body portion 320 is achieved actually in the following way: the upper side and the lower side of the first sides 410 of the notebook computer 400 are clamped by the two clamping ends 321 of the body portion 320 respectively and then the end portions of the first sides 410 of the notebook computer 400 are accommodated within the receiving region 323 to fully protect the first sides 410 of the notebook computer 400.

Still referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 6, at least one protrusion 325 may be further disposed at a bottom portion of the receiving region 323 to enhance the shock-absorption capacity of the body portion 320 and improve the effect of buffering.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6, each of the bent portions 330 comprised in the buffer elements 310 of the present invention comprises two catching ends 331 and a covering region 333 disposed between the two catching ends 331. Thus, covering the second sides 420 of the notebook computer 400 by the bent portion 330 is achieved actually in the following way: the upper side and the lower side of the second sides 420 of the notebook computer 400 are clamped by the two catching ends 331 of the bent portion 330 respectively and then the end portions of the second sides 420 of the notebook computer 400 are accommodated within the covering region 333 to fully protect the second sides 420 of the notebook computer 400.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 7, at least one protrusion 335 may be further disposed at a bottom portion of the covering region 333 to enhance the shock-absorption capacity of the bent portion 330 and improve the effect of buffering.

Additionally, in order to enhance the protection for the four corners 430 of the notebook computer 400, each of the clamping ends 321 of the body portion 320 is formed to have a side surface substantially in the form of a trapezoid that is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom and each of the catching ends 331 of the bent portion 330 is formed to have a side surface substantially in the form of a triangle that is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom in a preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 5.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, when the bent portions 330 at the two sides of the buffer element 310 bend towards the body portion 320 located at the center of the buffer element 310, the trapezoid side surface of each of the clamping ends 321 of the body portion 320 can cooperate with the triangular side surface of each of the catching ends 331 of the bent portion 330 to form a U-shaped structure that opens to the right or to the left so as to completely correspond to the four corners 430 of the notebook computer 400 and enhance the protection for the four corners 430 of the notebook computer 400.

On the other hand, referring back to FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, in order to allow an operator to cover the notebook computer 400 with the buffer structure 300 more rapidly, the body portion 320 of each of the buffer elements 310 may further have two position-limiting regions 327 disposed at the two first ends 320 a of the body portion 320 respectively, and the two bent portions 330 of each of the buffer elements 310 also each have a snap-fit portion 337 correspondingly.

Therefore, when the operator covers the notebook computer 400 with the buffer structure 300 and bends the two bent portions 330 towards the body portion 320, the snap-fit portions 337 of the bent portions 330 can be guided by and snap-fitted into the position-limiting regions 327 of the body portion 320, thereby allowing the operator to assemble the buffer structure 300 and cover the notebook computer 400 with the buffer structure 300 more rapidly. Moreover, when the snap-fit portions 337 of the bent portions 330 are snap-fitted into the position-limiting regions 327 of the body portion 320, the structural strength after the body portion 320 and the two bent portions 330 are bonded together may also be enhanced.

In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 8, each of the aforesaid snap-fit portions 337 is a multilayered sheet structure. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, when the snap-fit portions 337 of the bent portions 330 are bent and snap-fitted into the position-limiting regions 327 of the body portion 320, the multilayered sheet structure will also be able to protect the four corners 430 of the notebook computer 400.

As can be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the aforesaid effects of accelerating the assembling speed and enhancing the structural strength may also be achieved even if the positions of the position-limiting region and the snap-fit portion are swapped. That is, swapping the positions of the position-limiting region and the snap-fit portion so that the two snap-fit portions are respectively disposed at the two first ends 320 a of the body portion 320 of each of the buffer elements 310 and the two position-limiting regions are respectively disposed on the two bent portions 330 of each of the buffer elements 310 also falls within the scope claimed in the present invention.

One of the two buffer elements 310 comprised in the aforesaid buffer structure 300 may further have two bent pieces 340, as shown in FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 10 and FIG. 11. Then when the buffer structure 300 is placed into the case body 200, a side space 210 may be defined to store an accessory kit 500 of the notebook computer.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 10, the two bent pieces 340 extend from two second ends 320 b of the body portion 320 of the buffer element 310 respectively, and as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the two bent pieces 340 are adapted to be bended in a direction away from the body portion 330. In this way, when the buffer element 310 having the two bent pieces 340 is placed into the case body 200, a side space 210 will be defined by the two bent pieces 340 and the inner portions of the case body 200 to store the accessory kit 500 of the notebook computer.

Because the size of the side space 210 is defined corresponding to the volume and the shape of the bent pieces 340, the bent pieces 340 may also have other shapes (such as a U shape) in addition to the rectangular shape shown in FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, and no limitation is made thereto.

Except for the aforesaid two additionally provided bent pieces 340, the contents of the body portion 320 and the two bent portions 330 of the buffer element 310 in a second embodiment shown in FIG. 8 to FIG. 11 are all similar to those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 7, and thus will not be further described herein.

No matter whether each of the buffer elements 310 comprised in the buffer structure 300 of the present invention is provided with the two bent pieces 340 or not, each of the buffer elements 310 is a molded thin buffer material that is formed integrally. In other words, if the buffer element 310 only comprises the body portion 320 and the two bent portions 330, then only the body portion 320 and the two bent portions 330 are formed integrally; and if the buffer element 310 comprises the body portion 320, the two bent portions 330 and the two bent pieces 340, then the body portion 320, the two bent portions 330 and the two bent pieces 340 are formed integrally.

Further, if the two buffer elements 310 are placed into the case body 200 in advance before being delivered to the client, then the storage space required before the assembling of the operator can be saved; and moreover, after the operator places the notebook computer 400 into a protecting bag (generally a thin plastic bag) in the process of packaging the notebook computer 400, the operator can place the notebook computer 400 already packaged in the protecting bag into the buffer structure 300 simply by opening the case body 200 and turning outward the bent portions 330 located at the upper ends of the buffer elements 310. Then, the packaging is finished and the case body can be sealed after the operator simply places the accessory kit 500 into the side space 210, thereby simplifying the assembling process.

According to the above descriptions, because the buffer structure 300 of the packaging assembly 100 of the present invention can completely cover and protect the electronic product (e.g., the aforesaid notebook computer 400) simply by using two buffer elements 310, it helps to reduce the required materials and parts, simplify the assembling process and reduce the packaging cost. Moreover, the particular relationships between the body portion 320 and the two bent portions 330 of the buffer element 310 (e.g., between the shapes or components such as the trapezoid side surface, the triangular side surface, the at least one protrusion 325, the at least one protrusion 335, the position-limiting region 327 and the snap-fit portion 337) also allow the operator to more efficiently assemble the buffer structure 300 of the present invention and cover the notebook computer 400 with the buffer structure 300 of the present invention, and meanwhile, enhance the structural strength after the body portion 320 and the two bent portions 330 are bonded together to provide excellent protection for the two first sides 410, the two second sides 420 and the four corners 430 of the notebook computer 400.

On the other hand, with the arrangement of the two bent pieces 340, a side space 210 is defined by the two bent pieces 340 and the inner portions of the case body 200 to store the accessory kit 500 of the notebook computer after the buffer element 310 is assembled into the case body 200, and this allows for more efficient distribution of the space inside the case body 200. Thus, the packaging assembly and the buffer structure thereof of the present invention can maximize the protection/buffering effect, save the space necessary for packaging the electronic product (e.g., the notebook computer, etc.) and thereby be made lightweight.

The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions, they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A buffer structure for packaging an electric product, comprising: two buffer elements, each of which has a body portion and two bent portions extending outwards from two first ends of the body portion respectively; wherein when two opposite first sides of the electric product are received by the body portions of the buffer elements respectively, the two bent portions of each of the buffer elements are bended to receive two opposite second sides of the electric product so that the body portions and the bent portions cooperate to cover corners of the electric product.
 2. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein the body portion comprises two clamping ends and a receiving region disposed between the two clamping ends, each of the clamping ends has a side surface substantially in the form of a trapezoid that is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, and at least one protrusion is disposed at a bottom portion of the receiving region.
 3. The buffer structure of claim 2, wherein each of the bent portions comprises two catching ends and a covering region disposed between the two catching ends, each of the catching ends has a side surface substantially in the form of a triangle that is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, and at least one protrusion is disposed at a bottom portion of the covering region.
 4. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein the body portion of each of the buffer elements has two position-limiting regions disposed at the two first ends respectively, and the two bent portions of each of the buffer elements each have a snap-fit portion respectively so that when the two bent portions are bended towards the body portion, the snap-fit portions of the bent portions are snap-fitted into the position-limiting regions of the body portion.
 5. The buffer structure of claim 4, wherein each of the snap-fit portions is a multilayered sheet structure.
 6. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein the body portion of the buffer elements has two snap-fit portions disposed at the two first ends respectively, and the two bent portions of each of the buffer elements each have a position-limiting region so that when the two bent portions are bended towards the body portion, the snap-fit portions of the body portion are snap-fitted into the position-limiting regions of the bent portions.
 7. The buffer structure of claim 6, wherein each of the snap-fit portions is a multilayered sheet structure.
 8. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein the body portion and the two bent portions of each of the buffer elements are formed integrally.
 9. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein one of the two buffer elements further has two bent pieces extending from two second ends of the body portions respectively, and the two bent pieces are adapted to be bended in a direction away from the body portion.
 10. The buffer structure of claim 9, wherein in the buffer element that has the two bent pieces, the body portion, the two bent portions and the two bent pieces thereof are formed integrally.
 11. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein each of the buffer elements is a molded thin buffer material.
 12. A packaging assembly for packaging an electric product, comprising: a case body; and a buffer structure of claim 1, being adapted to cover two first sides, two second sides and four corners of the electric product and then placed into the case body; wherein after the buffer structure and the electric product are placed into the case body, a side space is defined to store an accessory kit of the electric product.
 13. The packaging assembly of claim 12, wherein one of the two buffer elements of the buffer structure has two bent pieces extending from two second ends of the body portion respectively, and the two bent pieces are adapted to be bended in a direction away from the body portion so that, when the buffer structure is received in the case body, the side space is defined by the two bent pieces. 